Audio transmission system and communication conference device

Abstract

In an audio transmission system, a control section of a communication conference device emits measurement sound waves from a loudspeaker array to a terminal unit and measures the time until a response is received, thereby detecting the position of the terminal unit. The control section sets directivity characteristics so that microphone sensitivity of the microphone array is brought to point to the position of the terminal unit, and sends the collected audio to another communication conference device. In a communication conference device on the reception side, the directivity characteristic of the loudspeaker array is set so that the received audio appears as if it was emitted from the position of the terminal unit on the transmission side.

Description

[0001]This application is the National Phase of International Application PCT / JP2006 / 304994, filed Mar. 14, 2006 which designated the U.S. and that International Application was not published under PCT Article 21(2) in English.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]The present invention relates to an audio transmission system, in particular, to an audio transmission system that detects a position of a sound source and performs sound field control to create a high level of presence.[0003]Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-199683, filed Jul. 8, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND ART[0004]In general, a communication conference system is configured such that audio of conference participants is collected by a plurality of microphones, and is mixed and then transmitted. On the reception side, the audio is reproduced from all of loudspeakers at an equal level of sound volume and phase. In the case of such a communication conference system, the ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides an audio transmission system that can control the sound field with a simple configuration. The system includes a microphone array and a loudspeaker array with position detection devices. The microphone array detects the position of a sound source and sets its directivity characteristic to point to the sound source. The collected audio data is transmitted along with the directivity characteristic information to the reception side. The reception side sets the directivity characteristic of its loudspeaker array to form a virtual sound source in the same position as the sound source on the transmission side. This results in a high level of presence with a simple configuration.

Problems solved by technology

As a result, it is difficult on the reception side to identify who spoke.

However, a sound field with a high level of presence (for example, a feel of depth) can not be realized by only controlling the sound volumes of the respective loudspeaker (stereo loudspeaker units) based on the position information.

However, there is an issue in that when a plurality of speakers start speaking simultaneously, this switching needs to be performed in a short period of time, and accurate audio data cannot be transmitted as a result.

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